Today's weight: forgot
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 4 clementines, snickers bar, pork chop and potatoes and carrots, cinnamon muffin, hot tamales*, Wendy's 50 cent burger, nachos
Today's exercise: rainy**
* the candy, not tamales that are hot.
** I don't yet have proper apparel for running in the rain, and it was just coming down too hard all night.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Week 4, Day 4
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 4 clementines, beef burrito, macaroons, halloween candy, 2 salmon in cream sauce, can root beer
Today's exercise: sick*
* Tuesday's and Thursday's workouts are optional on my schedule, and because I wasn't feeling that great today, I chose to exercise the option and go to bed early.
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 4 clementines, beef burrito, macaroons, halloween candy, 2 salmon in cream sauce, can root beer
Today's exercise: sick*
* Tuesday's and Thursday's workouts are optional on my schedule, and because I wasn't feeling that great today, I chose to exercise the option and go to bed early.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Week 4, Day 3
Today's weight: 218.5
Today's blood pressure: 137/98
Today's food: 1 slice pizza, 4 clementines, beef 'n' cheddar, curly fries, OJ, leftover curry
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes) X5
Today's blood pressure: 137/98
Today's food: 1 slice pizza, 4 clementines, beef 'n' cheddar, curly fries, OJ, leftover curry
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes) X5
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Week 4, Day 2
Today's weight: 218.5
Today's blood pressure: 154/94
Today's food: can pepsi, 4 clementines, beef 'n' cheddar, curly fries, macaroons, halloween candy, pork chop, potato chips, orange juice
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
Today's blood pressure: 154/94
Today's food: can pepsi, 4 clementines, beef 'n' cheddar, curly fries, macaroons, halloween candy, pork chop, potato chips, orange juice
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
Monday, November 26, 2007
Week 4, Day 1
Today's weight: 218.0
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: can pepsi, macaroons, stuffing & potatoes & turkey, pizza, cereal with banana, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes) X5
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: can pepsi, macaroons, stuffing & potatoes & turkey, pizza, cereal with banana, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes) X5
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Week 3 Wrapup
Next week's running schedule had me going to 4 runs of 5 minutes each, with 2.5 minutes of walking between. That's a far cry from the 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking I was doing this week. I feel like the running I did this week was okay, although I was struggling a little. I feel like I could do 5 minutes, but I don't know for sure if I could do 5 minutes 4 times. And, I feel like the 3 minute runs should feel easier if I'm going to be able to jump to 5 minutes next week.
I had a couple of other concerns as well. For one, Becki's been going out with me most nights. She can't go every night, though, because of her other motherly obligations and claimed need for sleep. I'd prefer that she still be able to go out with me as often as she can for as long as I'm doing this. So, I didn't want to ramp up so fast that she felt like she was going to fall behind because of her intermittent participation.
My other concern is just for my own body. I really actually like running. Before, once I got past the remedial training and got to the point where I could run for an hour, I really started enjoying myself. I had the "runner's high" and everything. If I can get to the point where I can run a decent distance again, I'd like to be able to keep it up, but I can't if I injure myself. I've been living as a fat man for my whole adult life, and it may have been taking a toll on my knees and other parts. For all I know, I may only have another 5 years that I actually can be a runner before my knees give out. I'd like to do what I can to maximize my body's usefulness during the time I actually have left, and that means playing it safe and ramping up kind of slow.
So, because of all that, I'm flunking myself this week, and deciding to repeat this week of the running schedule again with just the following changes: I'm only allowing 2.5 minutes walking between runs, since that's all I'll get when I jump ahead to the following week, and I'll add a couple of 4 minute and 5 minute runs at the end of the week to try to build up more for the following week.
The good news is that the new shoes are working great. I don't have even remotely the amount of shin splint trouble I used to. I can't say for sure that it's the shoes, but I'm just glad I don't have to overdose on the ibuprofen any more.
I had a couple of other concerns as well. For one, Becki's been going out with me most nights. She can't go every night, though, because of her other motherly obligations and claimed need for sleep. I'd prefer that she still be able to go out with me as often as she can for as long as I'm doing this. So, I didn't want to ramp up so fast that she felt like she was going to fall behind because of her intermittent participation.
My other concern is just for my own body. I really actually like running. Before, once I got past the remedial training and got to the point where I could run for an hour, I really started enjoying myself. I had the "runner's high" and everything. If I can get to the point where I can run a decent distance again, I'd like to be able to keep it up, but I can't if I injure myself. I've been living as a fat man for my whole adult life, and it may have been taking a toll on my knees and other parts. For all I know, I may only have another 5 years that I actually can be a runner before my knees give out. I'd like to do what I can to maximize my body's usefulness during the time I actually have left, and that means playing it safe and ramping up kind of slow.
So, because of all that, I'm flunking myself this week, and deciding to repeat this week of the running schedule again with just the following changes: I'm only allowing 2.5 minutes walking between runs, since that's all I'll get when I jump ahead to the following week, and I'll add a couple of 4 minute and 5 minute runs at the end of the week to try to build up more for the following week.
The good news is that the new shoes are working great. I don't have even remotely the amount of shin splint trouble I used to. I can't say for sure that it's the shoes, but I'm just glad I don't have to overdose on the ibuprofen any more.
Week 3, Day 7
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: can pepsi, pot roast tv dinner, halloween candy, chicken curry, hot chocolate
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: can pepsi, pot roast tv dinner, halloween candy, chicken curry, hot chocolate
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Week 3, Day 6
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 149/92
Today's food: can pepsi, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, turkey sandwich, popcorn & pop at movie, double double
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X5
Today's blood pressure: 149/92
Today's food: can pepsi, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, turkey sandwich, popcorn & pop at movie, double double
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X5
Friday, November 23, 2007
Week 3, Day 5
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: 140/89
Today's food: can pepsi, chicken noodle soup, caramel pumpkin pie, banana, jalapeno beef
Today's exercise: Didn't get to run because of plumbing catastrophe.
Today's blood pressure: 140/89
Today's food: can pepsi, chicken noodle soup, caramel pumpkin pie, banana, jalapeno beef
Today's exercise: Didn't get to run because of plumbing catastrophe.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Week 3, Day 4
Today's weight: I somehow forgot to measure it today.
Today's blood pressure: 155/90 (measured after I got home, instead of when I get up like I normally would)
Today's food: can pepsi, thanksgiving*, turkey sandwich
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
* thanksgiving at Becki's mom's house, with all the food you would expect.
Today's blood pressure: 155/90 (measured after I got home, instead of when I get up like I normally would)
Today's food: can pepsi, thanksgiving*, turkey sandwich
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
* thanksgiving at Becki's mom's house, with all the food you would expect.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Week 3, Day 3
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: 146/97
Today's food: can pepsi, lean pocket, thanksgiving*, jalapeno beef
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X5
* Thanksgiving dinner at my family's house, meaning, turkey, potatoes, stuffing, dessert, the whole bit
Today's blood pressure: 146/97
Today's food: can pepsi, lean pocket, thanksgiving*, jalapeno beef
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X5
* Thanksgiving dinner at my family's house, meaning, turkey, potatoes, stuffing, dessert, the whole bit
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Week 3, Day 2
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: 139/89
Today's food: can pepsi, 2/3 country fried steak, bowl of chili, cereal with banana
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
Today's blood pressure: 139/89
Today's food: can pepsi, 2/3 country fried steak, bowl of chili, cereal with banana
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X4
Monday, November 19, 2007
Week 3, Day 1
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 135/98
Today's food: can pepsi, brownie, chili's (1/3 country fried steak, potatoes, corn, southwest egg rolls, part of other peoples' dessert), yogurt, banana
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes X 5)
Today's blood pressure: 135/98
Today's food: can pepsi, brownie, chili's (1/3 country fried steak, potatoes, corn, southwest egg rolls, part of other peoples' dessert), yogurt, banana
Today's exercise: (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes X 5)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Week 2 Wrapup: New shoes
Yesterday I got my second pair of running shoes ever. The first pair I got were the New Balance 950 in 2001. I had started running then and needed something to run in so I just bought the first pair I saw that didn't cost very much and didn't look totally dorky. I hadn't really run much, so I had no way of knowing how I would run, or what problems I might run into. So, there was no point in doing anything other than just picking shoes at random.
Those New Balance aren't totally worn out yet, but I did put some wear on them, and I fear that the cushioning has just degraded a little over time since they are 6 1/2 years old. More importantly, I'm guessing I might be able to find a better shoe for my needs now.
I always had shin splints every day that I ran back in the day, and just got into the habit of taking 800mg of ibuprofen 1 hour before running to cope with it. Now that I'm running again, I notice the same thing happening, so I'm hoping some new shoes could help with that.
I first went to the aptly named The Running Shop. It was a kind of small shop, crowded with about 1000 pairs of shoes, and a crapload of apparel and accessories and stuff. There were about 30 people in there, too. The shop was in a bit of disarray, but in a way that gave me the impression that everyone there was dedicated more to running than to shopkeeping. The crowd of customers would seem to bear that out as well. I would have stuck around there, but I had Joey with me and he kept wanting to ride the wheeled stools that the employees would sit on when they tried shoes onto you.
So, I went to Performance Footwear. This store is everything that The Running Shop is not: clean, spacious, well organized, open, airy... and completely devoid of people. The entire time I was there, it was just me and the sales dude. I might have just turned right around and headed back to The Running Shop, but by that time Joey had fallen asleep, and Performance Footwear had a big leather couch that I was able to just dump him on to sleep while I shoe shopped.
The sales dude was a young guy, probably a college student. He never gave me a lot of confidence that he knew what he was talking about. He may be the smartest guy in running-land, but the way he said things just sounded like he was repeating everything he heard his manager say without knowing what the things he was saying actually meant. He looked at my old shoes and saw that the only real visible wear was on the heel, and not on either side, so under or over-pronation probably wasn't a problem (which is what I had previously surmised from my own cursory examination). He watched me on the treadmill for a little bit and said that I was just landing on my heels, like most people, and I just need a shoe with good cushioning in the heel.
He brought out 4 pairs. One rubbed me funny in one spot and seemed like it would give blisters there. One was too small and he didn't have a larger size. One felt okay. The last ones were a pair of Mizunos that felt a little more okay than the previous pair. They were cheaper also, so I bought them. They have some sort of plastic shock absorber/spring contraption in the heel that I would totally be showing off on the playground if I were still in elementary school. I also picked up a pair of clearance running pants for when the weather starts to get a little colder.
So, I think these shoes will work out okay, but I will most likely return to The Running Shop for when I need anything else. The only real advantage that Performance Footwear has is that they give a 15% discount to members of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, whereas The Running Shop only gives 10%, but that's the price you pay for knowledge, I guess.
The other thing I did today was bid on a used Garmin Forerunner 205 on eBay. My Casio digital watch broke, so I don't have a watch with stopwatch on it right now, which makes it hard to time my runs. I've been just generally counting my paces, because I know that at a normal jogging pace, my left foot will hit the ground about 80 times in a minute. So, if I have to run three minutes, I'll just count to 240. i'd much rather have a watch do it, and this watch can do things like beep when I've gone a certain time or distance in all sorts of intervals that I can program into it.
This week's exercise is actually the first week of a ten week running schedule that I got off of runnersworld.com. It was part of an article about how to get a complete out of shape non-runner to be able to run thirty minutes at a stretch. I used last week to just stretch my legs and get used to running a little, so I'm starting this schedule a week behind. That means I'll only be able to finish 7 weeks of it before the official end of my eight week experiment, which will take me up to the point where I can run 26 minutes, broken into three chunks with a few minutes of walking in between. I suspect I'll keep going after the experiment is over and finish out the schedule before seeing what comes next. I'm just not promising anything beyond my eight week goal at this point.
I'm still keeping up with the running okay. I added a couple of extra minutes in Friday and Saturday's run to hopefully be better prepared for the jump to next week.
Those New Balance aren't totally worn out yet, but I did put some wear on them, and I fear that the cushioning has just degraded a little over time since they are 6 1/2 years old. More importantly, I'm guessing I might be able to find a better shoe for my needs now.
I always had shin splints every day that I ran back in the day, and just got into the habit of taking 800mg of ibuprofen 1 hour before running to cope with it. Now that I'm running again, I notice the same thing happening, so I'm hoping some new shoes could help with that.
I first went to the aptly named The Running Shop. It was a kind of small shop, crowded with about 1000 pairs of shoes, and a crapload of apparel and accessories and stuff. There were about 30 people in there, too. The shop was in a bit of disarray, but in a way that gave me the impression that everyone there was dedicated more to running than to shopkeeping. The crowd of customers would seem to bear that out as well. I would have stuck around there, but I had Joey with me and he kept wanting to ride the wheeled stools that the employees would sit on when they tried shoes onto you.
So, I went to Performance Footwear. This store is everything that The Running Shop is not: clean, spacious, well organized, open, airy... and completely devoid of people. The entire time I was there, it was just me and the sales dude. I might have just turned right around and headed back to The Running Shop, but by that time Joey had fallen asleep, and Performance Footwear had a big leather couch that I was able to just dump him on to sleep while I shoe shopped.
The sales dude was a young guy, probably a college student. He never gave me a lot of confidence that he knew what he was talking about. He may be the smartest guy in running-land, but the way he said things just sounded like he was repeating everything he heard his manager say without knowing what the things he was saying actually meant. He looked at my old shoes and saw that the only real visible wear was on the heel, and not on either side, so under or over-pronation probably wasn't a problem (which is what I had previously surmised from my own cursory examination). He watched me on the treadmill for a little bit and said that I was just landing on my heels, like most people, and I just need a shoe with good cushioning in the heel.
He brought out 4 pairs. One rubbed me funny in one spot and seemed like it would give blisters there. One was too small and he didn't have a larger size. One felt okay. The last ones were a pair of Mizunos that felt a little more okay than the previous pair. They were cheaper also, so I bought them. They have some sort of plastic shock absorber/spring contraption in the heel that I would totally be showing off on the playground if I were still in elementary school. I also picked up a pair of clearance running pants for when the weather starts to get a little colder.
So, I think these shoes will work out okay, but I will most likely return to The Running Shop for when I need anything else. The only real advantage that Performance Footwear has is that they give a 15% discount to members of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, whereas The Running Shop only gives 10%, but that's the price you pay for knowledge, I guess.
The other thing I did today was bid on a used Garmin Forerunner 205 on eBay. My Casio digital watch broke, so I don't have a watch with stopwatch on it right now, which makes it hard to time my runs. I've been just generally counting my paces, because I know that at a normal jogging pace, my left foot will hit the ground about 80 times in a minute. So, if I have to run three minutes, I'll just count to 240. i'd much rather have a watch do it, and this watch can do things like beep when I've gone a certain time or distance in all sorts of intervals that I can program into it.
This week's exercise is actually the first week of a ten week running schedule that I got off of runnersworld.com. It was part of an article about how to get a complete out of shape non-runner to be able to run thirty minutes at a stretch. I used last week to just stretch my legs and get used to running a little, so I'm starting this schedule a week behind. That means I'll only be able to finish 7 weeks of it before the official end of my eight week experiment, which will take me up to the point where I can run 26 minutes, broken into three chunks with a few minutes of walking in between. I suspect I'll keep going after the experiment is over and finish out the schedule before seeing what comes next. I'm just not promising anything beyond my eight week goal at this point.
I'm still keeping up with the running okay. I added a couple of extra minutes in Friday and Saturday's run to hopefully be better prepared for the jump to next week.
Week 2, Day 7
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 128/91
Today's food: can pepsi, chicken ziti broccoli, pork medallions with stuffing, 2 pieces banana cake, yogurt
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: 128/91
Today's food: can pepsi, chicken ziti broccoli, pork medallions with stuffing, 2 pieces banana cake, yogurt
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Week 2, Day 6
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 131/87
Today's food: can pepsi, lean pocket, large jamba juice (the 600 some-odd calories version), chicken soup, halloween candy
Today's exercise: run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes, (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X3, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes
Today's blood pressure: 131/87
Today's food: can pepsi, lean pocket, large jamba juice (the 600 some-odd calories version), chicken soup, halloween candy
Today's exercise: run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes, (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X3, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes
Friday, November 16, 2007
Week 2, Day 5
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 144/84
Today's food: can pepsi, two brownies, cinnamon roll, 1/2 beef barolo, slice bread, popcorn, chips and dip, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2, (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X2, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes
Today's blood pressure: 144/84
Today's food: can pepsi, two brownies, cinnamon roll, 1/2 beef barolo, slice bread, popcorn, chips and dip, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2, (run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes) X2, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Week 2, Day 4
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: 132/91
Today's food: can pepsi, banana, taco/relleno, halloween candy, chicken broccoli ziti, cinnamon roll
Today's exercise: walk for 50 minutes (I forgot my running shoes today)
Today's blood pressure: 132/91
Today's food: can pepsi, banana, taco/relleno, halloween candy, chicken broccoli ziti, cinnamon roll
Today's exercise: walk for 50 minutes (I forgot my running shoes today)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Week 2, Day 3
Today's weight: 220
Today's blood pressure: 130/95
Today's food: can pepsi, pancakes, halloween candy, cereal with banana, beef barolo
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2
Today's blood pressure: 130/95
Today's food: can pepsi, pancakes, halloween candy, cereal with banana, beef barolo
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X2
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Week 2, Day 2
Today's weight: 219
Today's blood pressure: 146/91
Today's food: can pepsi, manuel's taco platter, 1/2 shrimp pasta, halloween candy, orange julius, cereal with banana, popcorn
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X3
Today's blood pressure: 146/91
Today's food: can pepsi, manuel's taco platter, 1/2 shrimp pasta, halloween candy, orange julius, cereal with banana, popcorn
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X3
Monday, November 12, 2007
Week 2, Day 1
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 134/96
Today's food: turkey sandwich with bacon, beef barolo, squash soup, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X5
Today's blood pressure: 134/96
Today's food: turkey sandwich with bacon, beef barolo, squash soup, halloween candy
Today's exercise: (run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes) X5
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Week 1 Wrapup
This week's exercise was really light, just to get my feet used to hitting the pavement again, and get my tendons and ligaments and muscles all sort of stretching again. I've really been sedentary for a long time, and running 1 minute stretches is not too much, but is definitely stretching my abilities a little.
I should mention we have the world's crappiest scale. It's digital, and it's new enough to use strain gauges instead of whatever they used before. However, it can't give me a consistent reading. I could step on it 5 times, and get a reading that varies up to six pounds from the lowest to highest reading. Each reading you see here is actually the average of about ten repeated attempts. Also, it's super creaky when I step on it which only serves to hurt my self esteem. I shall replace it as soon as I find a new one that's accurate yet doesn't cost a lot.
I should mention we have the world's crappiest scale. It's digital, and it's new enough to use strain gauges instead of whatever they used before. However, it can't give me a consistent reading. I could step on it 5 times, and get a reading that varies up to six pounds from the lowest to highest reading. Each reading you see here is actually the average of about ten repeated attempts. Also, it's super creaky when I step on it which only serves to hurt my self esteem. I shall replace it as soon as I find a new one that's accurate yet doesn't cost a lot.
Week 1, Day 7
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 141/93
Today's food: one bottle mexican coke, pasta with shrimp cream sauce, banana, bacon mustard chicken, popcorn
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: 141/93
Today's food: one bottle mexican coke, pasta with shrimp cream sauce, banana, bacon mustard chicken, popcorn
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Week 1, Day 6
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 139/95
Today's food: can pepsi, leftover satay, milanesa, garlic chicken, halloween candy, two bottles mexican coke
Today's exercise: Alternate running 1 minute and walking 1 minute ten times
Today's blood pressure: 139/95
Today's food: can pepsi, leftover satay, milanesa, garlic chicken, halloween candy, two bottles mexican coke
Today's exercise: Alternate running 1 minute and walking 1 minute ten times
Friday, November 9, 2007
Week 1, Day 5
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 134/94
Today's food: can pepsi, salmon patty, halloween candy, tortillas, seafood ravioli
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with nine 1 minute long spurts of running
Today's blood pressure: 134/94
Today's food: can pepsi, salmon patty, halloween candy, tortillas, seafood ravioli
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with nine 1 minute long spurts of running
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Week 1, Day 4
Today's weight: 222
Today's blood pressure: 136/81
Today's food: can pepsi, slice cheesecake, fancy lawyer food*, 1/2 serving garlic chicken, halloween candy, rice krispies with banana
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
* Chandler & Udall, the law firm that handles malpractice cases for my dad, was having an open house for their new office. They had plenty of fancy hors d'oeuvres like these meatball things, pot stickers, chicken satay, cream puffs and eclairs, and cocktail shrimp bigger than my 3 year old son's arm.
Today's blood pressure: 136/81
Today's food: can pepsi, slice cheesecake, fancy lawyer food*, 1/2 serving garlic chicken, halloween candy, rice krispies with banana
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
* Chandler & Udall, the law firm that handles malpractice cases for my dad, was having an open house for their new office. They had plenty of fancy hors d'oeuvres like these meatball things, pot stickers, chicken satay, cream puffs and eclairs, and cocktail shrimp bigger than my 3 year old son's arm.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Week 1, Day 3
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 131/87
Today's food: jack in the box sirloin burger combo, bowl of cereal with banana, halloween candy
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
Today's blood pressure: 131/87
Today's food: jack in the box sirloin burger combo, bowl of cereal with banana, halloween candy
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Week 1, Day 2
Today's weight: 221.5
Today's blood pressure: 132/95
Today's food: panda house combo, 1.5 servings dijon tarragon chicken, halloween candy, bowl of rice krispies with banana
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
Today's blood pressure: 132/95
Today's food: panda house combo, 1.5 servings dijon tarragon chicken, halloween candy, bowl of rice krispies with banana
Today's exercise: walk for one hour interspersed with eight 1 minute long spurts of running
Monday, November 5, 2007
Week 1, Day 1
Today's weight: 220.5
Today's blood pressure: 132/98
Today's food: wendy's single combo, halloween candy, catfish platter at texas roadhouse
Today's exercise: 4.25 miles brisk walk
Today's blood pressure: 132/98
Today's food: wendy's single combo, halloween candy, catfish platter at texas roadhouse
Today's exercise: 4.25 miles brisk walk
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Format
The format of this program is as follows: Every day I will do some form of exercise, usually running. The amount of running I do will increase along a predetermined schedule. Sundays are a day of rest, with no exercise.
I'm not "going on a diet" or otherwise making major changes to my diet. I am making the following minor changes, however: Non-diet soda will be limited to 12 ounces per day. Each day I will attempt to include 1 serving of milk or other dairy product, and 1 serving of fruits or vegetables beyond what might be normally included in my meals. I will also try not to eat like a pig or eat so much that I make myself sick.
I will measure my weight every morning, usually just before showering. I will take my blood pressure every morning, as soon after waking up as possible.
I will post here my log for each day. Each day's entry will include my weight, my blood pressure, what I ate for that day, and what exercise I did that day. The food log will include most everything I eat, but since I usually have a bottle of Gatorade after every run, I will just assume that and will not bother entering that. I will usually not put serving sizes unless they differ from what a big hungry guy like myself would normally eat. For example, if I put "steak", that probably means like a 12-14 ounce steak, not 4 ounces or whatever the recommended serving size is. If I say "half a serving", that's half one of my servings, not half a normal serving.
I'll do this for eight weeks, measuring my testosterone before, halfway through, and at the conlusion. I'll also remeasure all my cholesterol, triglycerides, ALT, etc. afterwards.
I'm not "going on a diet" or otherwise making major changes to my diet. I am making the following minor changes, however: Non-diet soda will be limited to 12 ounces per day. Each day I will attempt to include 1 serving of milk or other dairy product, and 1 serving of fruits or vegetables beyond what might be normally included in my meals. I will also try not to eat like a pig or eat so much that I make myself sick.
I will measure my weight every morning, usually just before showering. I will take my blood pressure every morning, as soon after waking up as possible.
I will post here my log for each day. Each day's entry will include my weight, my blood pressure, what I ate for that day, and what exercise I did that day. The food log will include most everything I eat, but since I usually have a bottle of Gatorade after every run, I will just assume that and will not bother entering that. I will usually not put serving sizes unless they differ from what a big hungry guy like myself would normally eat. For example, if I put "steak", that probably means like a 12-14 ounce steak, not 4 ounces or whatever the recommended serving size is. If I say "half a serving", that's half one of my servings, not half a normal serving.
I'll do this for eight weeks, measuring my testosterone before, halfway through, and at the conlusion. I'll also remeasure all my cholesterol, triglycerides, ALT, etc. afterwards.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Rationale
I'm not in very good health. I'm not in bad health, I'm just not in good health. I'm 34, overweight, have no energy, lead a completely sedentary life, and just don't feel all that healthy.
After getting struck by lightning last year, I had a full workup of tests done on my overall health. They confirmed what I pretty much already knew: I could stand to be more healthy. The specifics, however, are kind of interesting.
Right after the lightning, my heart checked out fine with an EKG, but bloodwork revealed an elevated liver enzyme (ALT). Followup bloodwork ruled out things like hepatitis, so the probable cause is fatty infiltration of the liver, where fat cells somehow get into the liver and keep it from functioning right. Probable cause of the fatty infiltration: being a fat slob. I'm not on the brink of liver failure just yet, but the doctor said we'd keep an eye on it and address it if it gets worse.
I've got elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels. They're not sky-high, but they're just a little past the threshold at which you start calling them high.
I've got high blood pressure. Again, it's not on-the-brink-of-stroke high, but right on the border between "needs medicine" and "doesn't need medicine".
One of the most interesting things to me is my testosterone level (or lack thereof). Years ago, I read a pamphlet in my doctor's office about low testosterone and the symptoms and treatment and thought "wow, it's like they're reading my mind". I matched up with most of the symptoms (depression, irritability, chronic fatigue, inability to concentrate, etc.), but didn't think to actually ask the doctor about, since the pamphlet was addressed mainly to old men. This time, since they were doing all the bloodwork anyway, I asked the doctor to go ahead and try testing the testosterone levels.
Surprise, surprise. It came back pretty low. It was not totally off the charts low. It was down at the very bottom of the reference range in the lab report. However, that reference range isn't based on a doctor's clinical assessment of what your level should be. It's just statistics. It represents something like the middle 80% of all the samples the lab takes without normalizing for age or anything like that. Most people getting their testosterone level tested would probably be older than I am, and testosterone levels fall as people age anyway. So, the reference range gets really skewed. If you take this into account, and compare my level against what a 34 year old male would normally have, my level's really low.
This makes sense to me, since I have just about all of the symptoms. I'm just exhausted all the time. I can't focus on what I'm doing all the time. I don't watch The View or anything, but I assume that's coming next. It's not clear why my level is low. The other hormones in my body are more or less normal, and any of them that were out of whack were investigated thoroughly before ruling out all expected causes.
I tried using testosterone gel for 6 weeks, and did see a noticeable improvement, both in my lab results and my well-being. The problem with that as a long term solution is that it's expensive, messy, and has side effects like eventually rendering you sterile. That would be totally worth it if it was necessary for me to have a better life, but I'm trying to explore my other options first.
Exercise is shown to increase testosterone production, and it's possible that my distinct lack of exercise is in some part responsible for my low levels. So, before I resign myself to a lifetime of sticky backs and sterility, I have to determine whether it's possible to raise my levels up by myself.
So, I've committed myself to a good solid 8 weeks of exercise, comparing my testosterone levels before, during, and after. If I raise my levels, and I feel better, then I know I pretty much have to keep that up the rest of my life to feel okay. If that doesn't seem to make the difference I'm looking for, then I know I'll have to commit to the artificial stuff.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
What's This?
I'm embarking on an intensive eight week program of diet and exercise in an attempt to better my overall health (or at least determine if it's possible to better my health solely through diet and exercise).
Because I want to keep a record of what I do and eat during this time, I've decided to create a blog so that record can be centrally accessible and easily updatable. On this blog, I'll keep track of all of the exercise I do and everything I eat during the eight weeks, along with relevant measures like blood pressure and weight.
Those who know me might be a little stumped at the idea of me putting these intimate sort of details about myself out there on the interweb. In actual reality, I'm an intensely private sort of person. However, I'm attempting to draw on the resource of public shame to keep myself committed to my plan. My thinking is that if I publicly announce my commitment, and publicly track the details of my followup, any failure will be equally public and the idea of such a public failure will be motivation enough to keep me going.
Because I want to keep a record of what I do and eat during this time, I've decided to create a blog so that record can be centrally accessible and easily updatable. On this blog, I'll keep track of all of the exercise I do and everything I eat during the eight weeks, along with relevant measures like blood pressure and weight.
Those who know me might be a little stumped at the idea of me putting these intimate sort of details about myself out there on the interweb. In actual reality, I'm an intensely private sort of person. However, I'm attempting to draw on the resource of public shame to keep myself committed to my plan. My thinking is that if I publicly announce my commitment, and publicly track the details of my followup, any failure will be equally public and the idea of such a public failure will be motivation enough to keep me going.
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